How to create best practices programs
Getting your customers to come to you with their success storiesA best practices award program is a contest your company/organization creates, manages and orchestrates to reward customers for outstanding product/service implementations. At the end of the contest, winners are acknowledged, creating positive visibility.
In addition to pleasing winning customers – deepening your partnership with them – a best practices program has a very useful residual effect: it gives you high quality references. Because customers want to participate and win, they put in the time and effort to share perspective filled with detail and ROI benefits. This kind of “pull” campaign is a welcome addition to the tedious “push” outreach to seek out and find customer references.
How are winners selected?
Success is measured using a variety of factors you determine. Some ideas include:
- innovation;
- measurable cost savings;
- productivity gains;
- process improvements;
- quality improvements;
- time savings;
- unique and innovative applications;
- anecdotal commentary about value and business impact.
Category creation
Best practices programs can recognize and reward multiple customers, not just one. Do this by creating categories of winning entries by:
Best practices programs can recognize and reward multiple customers, not just one. Do this by creating categories of winning entries by:
- product;
- vertical market;
- application type;
- ROI;
- geographical or sales region;
- innovation categories;
- etc.
What’s in it for the customer?
Customers participating in best practices programs not only get an ego boost (because of the acclaim and public recognition), they also win valuable prizes and/or goodwill for not-for-profit causes. Ideas for rewards span from simple and inexpensive to more elaborate, including:
Customers participating in best practices programs not only get an ego boost (because of the acclaim and public recognition), they also win valuable prizes and/or goodwill for not-for-profit causes. Ideas for rewards span from simple and inexpensive to more elaborate, including:
- philanthropic donation in the customer’s name to the social cause of their choice;
- dinner with customer and your CEO;
- social media buzz;
- all expense-paid trip to your annual user conference;
- “guest of honor” status at your awards dinner;
- all expenses paid vacation;
- tickets to sporting events, concerts, theatre;
- consumer electronics;
- product discounts;
- leased vehicle for one year;
- etc.
An important note: it’s important to do the right thing for each customer, factoring in ethical considerations, timing, relationship subtleties, politics, economic realities and organizational cultures when assessing prizes and compensation.
How do I do it?
Follow these 10 steps to a successful best practices program:
How do I do it?
Follow these 10 steps to a successful best practices program:
- Create a small team to drive the effort.
- Gather to discuss the concept. Create submission and measurement criteria. Brainstorm a catchy program name, categories and awards. Consider existing customer touch-points to launch the program (i.e. user conferences; seminars; webinars; etc.). Discuss the viability of using sponsors. Work in enough lead time to solicit entries and select winners.
- Create digital overview creatively describing the program, process, prizes and payoff.
- Get it out there 6-9 months – possibly 12 months - in advance of your deadline.
- Engage your sales force and other customer-facing employees to send reminders, field questions and encourage customers to participate. Incent your people to deliver customer entries.
- Create an area on your Web site to promote the program. Use social media to inform and promote.
- Gather submissions; appoint objective judges to evaluate and determine winners. Judges can include past winners (once the program is off the ground); current customers, industry analysts, luminaries, partners and bloggers. Share submissions with the evaluation team.
- Select the winners and get the awards in motion.
- Announce the winners and prizes at your Best Practices event.
- Promote the winners and case studies via social media, your Web site and in other ways.
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